Wearable exoskeletons have been designed for medical, commercial, and military applications. Medical exoskeleton devices restore and rehabilitate proper muscle function for patients with disorders affecting muscle control. Medical exoskeleton devices have systems of motorized braces that can apply forces to a wearer's appendages. In a rehabilitation setting, medical exoskeletons are controlled by a physical therapist who uses one of a plurality of possible input means to command an exoskeleton control system. In turn, the exoskeleton control system actuates the position of the motorized braces, resulting in the application of force to, and typically movement of, the body of the wearer. Medical exoskeletons can also be used outside of a therapeutic setting to grant improved mobility to a disabled individual. Commercial and military exoskeletons are used to alleviate loads supported by workers or soldiers during their labor or other activities, thereby preventing injuries and increasing the stamina and strength of these workers or soldiers. Tool-holding exoskeletons are outfitted with tool-holding arms that support the weight of a tool, reducing user fatigue by providing tool-holding assistance. Each tool-holding arm transfers the vertical force required to hold the tool through the legs of the exoskeleton rather than through the wearer's arms and body. Similarly, weight-bearing exoskeletons transfer the weight of an exoskeleton load through the legs of the exoskeleton rather than through the wearer's legs. In some cases, weight-bearing exoskeletons are designed to carry a specific load, such as a heavy backpack. In other cases, military weight-bearing exoskeletons support the weight of armor. Commercial and military exoskeletons can have actuated joints that augment the strength of a wearer, with these actuated joints being controlled by an exoskeleton control system, and the wearer using any of a plurality of possible input means to command the exoskeleton control system.
In powered exoskeletons, exoskeleton control systems prescribe and control trajectories in the joints of the exoskeleton, resulting in movement of the exoskeleton. These trajectories can be prescribed as position-based, force-based, or a combination of both methodologies, such as those seen in impedance controllers. Position-based control systems can be modified directly through modification of the prescribed positions. Similarly, force-based control systems can be modified directly through modification of the prescribed force profiles. Complicated exoskeleton movements, such as walking in an ambulatory medical exoskeleton, are commanded by an exoskeleton control system through the use of a series of exoskeleton trajectories, with increasingly complicated exoskeleton movements requiring an increasingly complicated series of exoskeleton trajectories. These series of trajectories can be cyclic, such as the exoskeleton taking a series of steps with each leg, or they can be discrete, such as an exoskeleton rising from a seated position into a standing position. In the case of an ambulatory exoskeleton, during a rehabilitation session and/or over the course of rehabilitation, it is highly beneficial for the physical therapist to have the ability to modify the prescribed positions and/or the prescribed force profiles depending on the particular physiology or rehabilitation stage of a patient. However, it is complex and difficult to construct an exoskeleton control interface that enables the full range of modification desired by the physical therapist during rehabilitation. In addition, it is important that the control interface not only allow the full range of modification that may be desired by the physical therapist but also that the interface with the physical therapist be intuitive to the physical therapist, who may not be highly technically oriented. As exoskeleton wearers are each differently proportioned, variously adjusted or customized powered exoskeletons will fit each wearer somewhat differently, requiring that the exoskeleton control system take into account these differences in wearer proportion, exoskeleton configuration/customization, and exoskeleton-wearer fit, resulting in changes to prescribed exoskeleton trajectories.
Methods have previously been developed that allow current exoskeletons to transmit exoskeleton diagnostic data to a central server. An example of this type of system is EKSO PULSE™, in which an exoskeleton sends state information, such as time of use or the occurrence of a fall, to a central server. However, the development of a system that allows for the transmission of a range of data from a central server to an exoskeleton control system would also be beneficial. In such a system, the data transmitted to the exoskeleton could be presented to the exoskeleton wearer, used for some function by the exoskeleton control system or both. It would also be useful for the exoskeleton to transmit additional types of data to the central server, allowing for various types of interaction between the exoskeleton control system and the central server. Such a system, in which data is communicated both from an exoskeleton to a central server and from a central server to an exoskeleton, could allow for many applications that would be useful to the exoskeleton wearer, the exoskeleton manufacturer or to third parties.
Based on the above, there exists a need in the art for devices and methods that allow for the transmission of data from a central server to an exoskeleton control system, with the devices and methods also allowing for two-way communication between the exoskeleton control system and the central server in real-time. There also exists a need in the art for devices and methods that allow an exoskeleton wearer to make use of such a communication linkage for applications that increase the usefulness of the exoskeleton to the exoskeleton wearer, including but not limited to applications such as monitoring exoskeleton maintenance needs, monitoring the state of the exoskeleton wearer, receiving alerts, receiving medical or technical support from a virtual or human assistant or navigation of the exoskeleton.
In addition, there exists a need for devices and methods that allow a central server to make use of such a communication linkage for analytic functions that are of value to the central server operator or the exoskeleton wearer, including but not limited to the identification of specific exoskeleton wearers or the use of various data analytics to determine optimal actions for recurring situations and fall mitigation or to determine which therapeutic strategies yield the best outcomes.
Furthermore, there exists a need for devices and methods that allow peripheral devices, including but not limited to crutches, tools, vehicles, replaceable batteries, smartphones, computers or other exoskeletons, to communicate with and be networked to an exoskeleton control system that is in communication with a central server through a data link. There also exists a need for devices and methods that allow an exoskeleton wearer who is not wearing an exoskeleton to communicate with the exoskeleton and/or a central server through use of a peripheral device.